The World Flora Online

Ovary inferior, 3-locular; style slender, with a capitate stigma or 3 short arms Ovules very numerous on axile, stalked placentas Stamens 6, or numerous and in 6 bundles of 2-6; anthers linear, basifixed, opening by longitudinal slits Fruit a dry or hard capsule, often flat or concave on the top, crowned with the scar of the perianth, or 6-toothed, sometimes spiny, loculicidally dehiscent Seeds numerous, embryo small in copious, rather hard endosperm Stems woody and fibrous, dichotomously branched, covered with the persistent bases of the fallen leaves; habit arborescent or shrubby Leaves crowded in a tuft at the ends of the branches, narrow, often pungent-pointed Flowers solitary on each peduncle, white, yellow, or blue, sometimes very handsome, actinomorphic, bisexual Perianth-tube very short or absent; segments equal, spreading Ovules very numerous on axile, stalked placentas Stamens 6, or numerous and in 6 bundles of 2-6; anthers linear, basifixed, opening by longitudinal slits Fruit a dry or hard capsule, often flat or concave on the top, crowned with the scar of the perianth, or 6-toothed, sometimes spiny, loculicidally dehiscent Seeds numerous, embryo small in copious, rather hard endosperm Stems woody and fibrous, dichotomously branched, covered with the persistent bases of the fallen leaves; habit arborescent or shrubby Leaves crowded in a tuft at the ends of the branches, narrow, often pungent-pointed Flowers solitary on each peduncle, white, yellow, or blue, sometimes very handsome, actinomorphic, bisexual Perianth-tube very short or absent; segments equal, spreading

Leaves (young, complete) in a fascicle at the end of the stem or of each branch; sheaths densely imbricate, cylindric with a V-shaped sinus opposite the blade; blades narrow and grass-like, persistent and gradually decomposing with age or deciduous by a symmetrical transverse line Flowers perfect or rarely functionally unisexual (Barbaceniopsis) Peduncles at the end of the stem or of each branch, 1-flowered Stamens 6 or numerous >i>(Vellozia in part); filaments terete and slender or variously flattened and forming a corona-like ring; anthers linear, introrse, opening by longitudinal slits Perianth-tube equalling to greatly exceeding the ovary and adnate to it; tepals 6 in 2 series but usually almost identical Ovary 3-locular, inferior; style slender, elongate; stigmas linear and vertical or orbicular and horizontal from the apex of the style (>i>Vellozia); ovules numerous in many rows on stalked placentas Fruit a tardily and irregularly dehiscent capsule Seeds numerous; embryo small in a copious endosperm Perennial herbs or shrubs; indument highly diverse, often not strictly epidermal;  stems mostly elongate and branched, covered with persistent leaf-sheaths, fibrous Flowers perfect or rarely functionally unisexual (Barbaceniopsis) Peduncles at the end of the stem or of each branch, 1-flowered Stamens 6 or numerous >i>(Vellozia in part); filaments terete and slender or variously flattened and forming a corona-like ring; anthers linear, introrse, opening by longitudinal slits Perianth-tube equalling to greatly exceeding the ovary and adnate to it; tepals 6 in 2 series but usually almost identical Ovary 3-locular, inferior; style slender, elongate; stigmas linear and vertical or orbicular and horizontal from the apex of the style (>i>Vellozia); ovules numerous in many rows on stalked placentas Fruit a tardily and irregularly dehiscent capsule Seeds numerous; embryo small in a copious endosperm Perennial herbs or shrubs; indument highly diverse, often not strictly epidermal;  stems mostly elongate and branched, covered with persistent leaf-sheaths, fibrous